Lagering a Lager... in FV or Bottle?

[NickW]

Hi there.

I am coming to the end of the fermentation of a lager kit (proper lager yeast) ... I'm not sure I'll have room in my brew fridge or other fridge as I have some brews planned.

I may be able to squeeze it in a spare fridge I have though...

If not, can I lager it in bottles in a fridge after a week or two of carbonating? Or does it have to be done in bulk?

 

[pittsy]

Hi , lagering is really when brew is in fv still and left in cold for a month then when finished it gets bottled . After this it will be kept cool for conditioning . An advantage of lagering is conditioning of beer(ready to drink) is shorter . So if your brew is in bottles then taking em of the fridge is fine .

 

[NickW]

Thanks pittsy, more useful information :thumb:

I am now starting to reconsider fridging my beer (the cool phase) as from what I've read (I've started a thread on it) it terminates the maturation process, for good. I may just start to cool my beer down a few hours before I want to drink it. But with the wheat beer you've helped me with, I won't follow this rule as you've stated they are to be drunk young :thumb:

 

[NickW]

Unless I'm misunderstanding the "cool" phase. I was just going to fridge the bottles... what kind of temperature are you guys talking about for "cool"?

 

[calumscott]

Lagering is something like a month, in bulk, at close to zero...

...it doesn't kill the yeast but it does drop all sorts of cr@p out of suspension leaving you with beautiful, crisp lager. There will still be enough yeast kicking around to give it fizz (so long as you remember to mix the priming syrup through properly ).